The Disneyland Bowl: Disneyland's Never Built Westcot

Disneyland's Never Built Westcot

Sorcerer Mickey Mouse Character in Mickey and the Magic Map Show at Disneyland

The plan to add Westcot to the Disneyland Resort was a part of a much larger plan to turn the standalone Disneyland theme park into a full resort multi-day destination. As a part of this, a massive theater known as the Disneyland Bowl was planned to be built.

Planned for the corner between Westcot, Disneyland, and Harbor Boulevard, this theater was intended for the location in the resort that currently holds parts of the Hollywoodland section of Disney California Adventure park.

This amphitheater was meant to be a large outdoor theater not connected to any theme park, designed to hold up to 5,000 people for various live events, although what these would have been was never revealed publicly.

If built, this would have been an entirely new experience at the Disneyland Resort, unlike anything that has ever been built in any Disney Park. It was somewhat similar to experiences at Disneyland Paris, which did include significant live shows outside the parks.

When the plans changed into Disney California Adventure being built instead of Westcot, this was deleted from the plans. But a large theater was built in the Disneyland Resort as a part of its expansion plan, with the Hyperion Theater in Disney California Adventure being a massive indoor Broadway-style theater that has held large-scale live events within the theme park.

The Disneyland Bowl would have been a unique experience unlike anything built before or since, adding a new performance venue to not only Disneyland, but Southern California. It was an idea that never came to be, but would have forever changed the original Disney resort.


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